The Glitch In Events
by MissPotter3o
Summary: James just wanted to put those little nagging thoughts at rest... well, he certainly did that! The marauders travel to a time they could never have predicted: 1995! MarauderTimeTravel! Please note that the first chapter is only an intro! the next will be much longer...
1. Chapter 1

The Glitch In Events

_October 1977, Marauders' 7__th__ Year_

"…So, for homework I would like one foot of parchment describing the aftermath of the Goblin Rebellion, due in next week."

The entire class rushed to their bags as they hurried out of the room, only Lily and Remus had bothered to record the work, and it was likely that they would be the only two to do it…

**LILY POV**

"Remus?"

"Lily?" he replied with a subtly sarcastic manner.

I just rolled my eyes, " Yes, very funny. I'm being serious."

Remus then turned to look at me and sighed, "You have my fullest attention Lily."

I suddenly became silent. I didn't know what to say because the thought of asking my question seemed so ridiculous now that it was imminent.

"Well… I know James has been declaring his love for years now… and he was so happy when we got together… but" I was swiftly interrupted,

"-You want me to tell you if he's cheating on you?" Remus stared back at me with concern in his eyes, and I nodded with an embarrassed and guilty look plastered across my face. Remus just smiled at me and started to chuckle, "No, of course he wouldn't. I know he's been avoiding you for a while but it's not because of that… in fact it's kind of the opposite."

That confused me further, "Wait, what do you mean? Remus?!" he had started to run off and catch up with his infamous gang…

**REMUS POV**

As I caught up to the others I could hear Sirius' distinct guffaw about 30 seconds before I actually arrived.

"Really Moony?! _That _was your explanation!" Sirius just continued to laugh.

"Well what did you want me to say Padfoot? _Oh yeah, James isn't cheating on you; he's just using his incredibly wasted intelligence to creepily stalk your future lives. But don't worry, he's not paranoid!_" It made me want to punch Prongs so hard that he'd forget his own name, let alone this bout of insanity!

Sirius just rolled his eyes, " It's not that creepy… he's just checking that he won't muck up this relationship."

"Oh yeah? And what if he finds himself with someone else? He might be the happiest man alive, but it won't do because it's not Lily?!"

Sirius couldn't think of a comeback, but unfortunately James could, "Well, I wouldn't be happy without Lily so that won't happen."

This was becoming a desperate plea now, " Please Prongs! Don't do it! It'll go horribly wrong! And also what happened to your mature and loving personality?! That's the only reason Lily managed to see your good points, because you stopped acting like…like this!"

That caused James to stop mid-step. "I'm doing this for a bit of reassurance, ok Moony? Lily isn't the only one scared of me making a mistake. I'm just checking that I don't."

Now I was left speechless, and so I followed like a helpless, unwilling sheep: because I wanted to make James feel better...

**A.N: Ok, this is my first ever fanfic. It's only a start so if you're not liking it please ****give me all the constructive criticism you can! Thanks. If you do like this, the next part will be up soon. However, be warned, this story is going to fit with canon, so there won't be any story changes... sorry :( **

**Please review and tell me what you think! Thanks :D**


	2. Chapter 2

_Flashback: July 1977_

**NARRATIVE POV**

Lily walked up to the spot James had said; they'd been writing to each other all summer, she'd finally decided to give him a chance.

You want to know why? It was the stupidest thing, but that final week before the summer began was the first time that Potter had managed one month without flirting with Lily, he hadn't pulled any pranks in the last two weeks, which was a long time for him. And that final push that persuaded Lily to have her first proper conversation with Pot- _James_! Was the most unnoticeable thing imaginable: he helped her up when she tripped on her way to Muggle Studies, and then offered to carry her books.

That was it. In that whole exchange he never mentioned love, he called her Lily, and he was…polite.

He had grown up.

And so, here they were: in a children's park. Lily finally saw him in the distance and made her way towards him. The first thing she noticed was his expression, there was no childish smirk, but a slight grimace accompanied by a panicked glint in his eyes. For the first time, James Potter had managed to confuse Lily, and spark an emotion in her that could only be described as compassion.

James was honestly terrified. The previous methods hadn't worked and he'd finally realised what it was that he had to do to win Lily's heart: he had to grow up. Of course, this would only be temporary! There was no way he could lose his mischievous flirty nature forever… just for a few months until Lily would accept it. He had this all planned out. All that was left now was to tell her… Well, it's now or never.

" Lily,"

" James?"

"I, uh, just wanted to see you…"

Lily smiled, "Ok, well I'm here."

And James suddenly felt at ease, "Right, well, I wanted to ask you something- and please take me seriously this time because I'm trying- Lily ever since I saw you in first year I have tried to win you over. I know it hasn't worked so far, but this is different. This isn't smirking, flirty Prongs the Marauder with his entourage coming to demonstrate his love with a prank, this is James Potter; a guy who is trying to be honest and tell you that those escapades weren't meant in the way you assumed them. I did it because I knew it worked. Just not with you. That's why you're special Lil, you're not a carbon copy of the typical girl: you are unique, and beautiful, and I love you."

Lily gasped. This wasn't a speech to simply shake off… and after seven years, this felt like the first time all over again. He was right; this wasn't that same cocky kid. And so, Lily gave him a chance, and let herself be honest too.  
"James, I-I think I feel the same… You have changed, and you haven't as well. You were always charming and loyal, I've heard that much from Remus. Now you're just not as insufferable as you were." James began to smile, and Lily paused for a second in deliberation," Ok. Yes James Potter, I will go out with you."

James immediately ran over to Lily and hugged her, " Thank you! Please just give me this chance, I'll try to be the best boyfriend imaginable,"

This made Lily laugh, "You can try all you like! It's impossible."

James shook his head, "Just wait…"

That was the start of it all really…

_September 1977_

**JAMES POV**

"YOU'RE KIDDING! She finally said yes!"

I nodded, and started to smile, "I won her over."

Sirius was beaming from ear to ear and started to smirk, "So, how far have you got?" **wink**

I glared at him, as did Moony, "It's not like that."

Sirius' smile changed, "oh yeah? Going slow then? Good idea, makes it more passionate."

"Padfoot shut up!"

Then he actually looked at me for the first time, and saw that I was serious, "OK, sorry mate. I didn't mean anything by it… But hey! On the bright side we have a new Marauder! I'm sure Lilyflower will be an excellent addition."

Remus chuckled slightly and stuck his head out of his book, "I doubt Lily'll condone the pranking any more than she did last year Padfoot. She's still Lily."

This caused Sirius to pout. Peter finally spoke up; he had stayed completely silent until now.

"This is really great James, I'm happy for you… But what does this mean for our pranking?"

Ah great. Now I really have to tell them. They're not going to like it, especially Sirius, "Well, I think we're going to have to lie low for a bit on the pranks… it's too risky."

That caused Padfoot to almost jump out of his seat, "But we have to keep up our reputation! Everyone will want a welcome back prank from the infamous Marauders!"

I took a deep breath, well here goes, "Pads I can't. I've got to change my reputation now…. Dumbledore made me Head Boy."

That really caused uproar. Peter fell of his seat; Moony dropped his book, but managed to hide his surprise quite well. Sirius however, was a completely different matter. He somehow managed to drag all the luggage off of their shelves and onto the floor with him, as well as making a dent in the carriage door and smashing his nose against the opposite bench, specifically where James' knee was, causing them both to screech in pain.

"You?! Head Boy?! How? When? Why? But- you're Prongs! If any of us were gonna be Head Boy it would have been Moony!"

At that specific moment Moony went red and raised his book over his face, I could see the guilty look in his eyes though that he had thought the same.

I just shrugged, "Go ask Dumbledore, I didn't choose this."

Sirius just stayed silent for almost ten minutes; it was starting to creep me out actually, until he spoke.

"We can use this, now you have influence! Power and authority! Just you wait, we can punish those Slytherins as much as we want and just say that it was justified!"

That was the last thing I expected to hear, " What? No of course we can't! I'm not going to do that Pads! I don't want to lose Lily when I only just got her,"

"UH-HM!"

A very loud cough interrupted the argument, Lily.

"James, can I talk to you for a second?"

She had a steely glint in her eyes, this was never going to be good… We had lasted a grand total of two months and she was about to break up with me.

She led me out into the carriage and I took a deep breath, "Look, Lily, about that… It was Sirius, not me. I was trying to stop him, I'd just told him about the Head Boy thing and I just"

"SH!"

That shut me up.

"I came to tell you that we had to go to the Prefects' carriage, but, now I need to tell you this: I'm glad I said yes."

I was stunned, she just continued to stare at me though…

I smirked, "Yes, well, of course I knew that… um, why aren't you mad at me?"

She just rolled her eyes, those beautiful emerald eyes, "Because you didn't think of Sirius' daft idea first. And you tried to persuade him otherwise… You really have changed."

And with that she kissed me, so let's just say that McGonagall and Dumbledore weren't particularly happy when we arrived 20 minutes late, although I swore to Sirius later that nothing actually happened…

_Two weeks before chapter 1_

_Still October 1977_

**JAMES POV**

I had to tell Lily! This was so important to her! Plus it was hilarious, I mean, come on! It was Padfoot, in the library, _reading! _As in, actually reading!And what's more, it was Hogwarts; A History, of all things! He had finally cracked, and she needed to gloat.

(We'd been together for three months now, I knew her habits pretty well)

I sprinted up to dormitory stairs, and then slid straight back down them when I remembered about the wards on the girls' dorms. I had to be smarter than that.

Eventually, I came up with the bright idea of following a girl up the stairs in my cloak… Surprisingly it worked.

Anyway, I got to Lily's dorm, and then heard the words that broke my flawless composure for weeks afterwards.

"Oh come on Lily, it's James Potter! He's been acting like a fool for so long surely he'll make a mistake. He'll be back to his own ways before the year finishes!"

_Present October 1977_

**REMUS POV**

He was actually about to do it. It'd taken him two weeks but Prongs had actually gone and done it.

"Woah Prongs, isn't this a bit excessive? A potion and everything?"

Prongs looked at Padfoot solemnly and nodded, that was what really scared me. He was deadly serious.

I was desperate to buy some time before this went dreadfully wrong, "Look, at least tell Lily what's going on? She doesn't think that you will make any mistakes, and neither do we! Just believe us for once please!"

James sighed, "You're right. If this doesn't work, I need to at least say goodbye."

That made me feel worse.

"James, don't say that! You'll be back, me and Pads'll be there to get you home in one piece."

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Oh no. Quick! Explanation? Ugh, too late, time for the truth.

"Lily, James is scared and paranoid that he's gonna muck up your relationship so he wants to travel to the future and find out if he did."

"Oh thanks Moony! Tell her then!"

I felt immediately guilty, "I'm sorry, but she needs to know."

Lily glared at us, "Damn right I did! How can you want to do this? Don't you know the dangers?"

James nodded, "But I want to make sure that I don't make any mistakes before the end of the year, that's all!"

It finally clicked in Lily's head, "You heard Alice the other day didn't you?"

James just stared at her, "It doesn't matter what I heard, she's right. I just need to make sure…"

" Well, then I'm coming too!"

James' eyes widened in fear, "No, you weren't even meant to know about this!"

" I DON'T CARE! TAKE ME WITH YOU!"

I felt I had to intervene, "James just do it."

He looked at me, and nodded. "Ok, just be careful ok?"

Lily nodded.

Sirius started speaking in an awkwardly quiet tone, "So, how does this work?"

James turned to the potion, "We just drink the potion, it wears off after three days, and then we return back to the very second we left."

Everyone nodded.

I had one final question though, "Isn't Peter coming with us?"

James sighed, "No, nobody else was supposed to know, at least if something goes wrong, he can truthfully say he doesn't know anything."

I nodded… It wasn't the best idea but we all knew that Peter was more of a hindrance than a help…

James dished out goblets of his potion and after a stunned silence, we drank…

**A.N: Thanks to jeremiah123 for reviewing already, I know this is the same day, but I was told to provide a backstory for what was happening and I completely agreed, so this is a longer chapter for you :D again, please review, constructive criticism is welcome.**

**Also I forgot to mention this last chapter, but here is my disclaimer: I own nothing of the Harry Potter world, it all belongs to J.K. Rowling. So thanks guys :)**


	3. Chapter 3

BAM!

Darkness…. All that could be heard was silence, the three Marauders and Lily couldn't even open their eyes, they were just too… tired…

**JAMES' POV**

Ugh, OW! Oh god…

I knew it: the potion was all a dream and now I'm hungover. Well that's just great… Of all the stupid things to do I had to go and drink. What lesson is it today? Minnie's gonna kill me anyway… I bloody hope Padfoot's in the same state, serves him right. I don't know why it serves him right it just does!

Ah, why's it so bright?... oo! I like that colour orange… FIRE! FIRE! I HAVE TO TELL DUMBLEDORE! WHAT ABOUT THE OTHERS- LIL-

Oh no, it's just Lily's hair. Never mind.

"Hm… Lily?"

"Hm?"

"Why are you in my bed?"

– Oh god! I've slept with Lily and I was been drunk the entire time! Why?! How could I have been so stupid?...

James couldn't believe it, although the moment was short-lived. The grogginess was wearing off and he had succumbed to the first sensible thought of the day: they were both fully clothed.

Stupid glasses. He fumbled around on the nightstand for five minutes before he realised they weren't there. The search continued to the floor and as the time passed, James became himself again – fully awake and functional.

Well, I say functional… more like freakishly paranoid and pensive for the popular troublemaker.

What if the potion had worked?

What if he was all alone and the Lily on the bed didn't know him?

What if the potion had killed him?

"Prongs?" A voice questioned from the bed, definitely a girl's but not Lily's

James just looked puzzled… "Lily?"

The figure arose, just as James did. It had to be Lily, that hair was unmistakeable.

"Lily what's wrong?"

Lily stumbled backwards and sprinted headfirst to the nearest mirror, what followed was the most ear-piercing scream – I swear it must have deafened about half of the school's population of animals.

Well that was certainly troubling, what was James missing?

"Lily? What's wrong I-"

She screamed back in that same unfamiliar voice, "PUT YOUR GLASSES ON YOU BLOODY IDIOT!"

James fumbled and almost dropped the stupid things, but he finally managed to place the glasses on his head – hands trembling uncontrollably. Let's just say he wasn't prepared for what happened next.

Lily wasn't Lily. She had the wrong colour eyes – brown, and shaped like almonds – she had too many freckles spread across her cheeks, she was a sporty build and not the slim but untoned shape of a girl who spent her life in the pages of books.

James couldn't speak. He had actually lost the capacity to form any words. Did the potion cause this to happen? No, he can be fairly sure that this is not Lily at all. But nobody else in the year looks remotely like Lily… actually come to think of it, that's not even her hair colour – it's too ginger. I've walked in on some poor unsuspecting girl from the lower year; that's it! Of course, no wonder she knows who I am, but I don't know her: it figures…

"Ok, ok, I'm very sorry for disturbing you but do you know where I could find Lily Evans?"

The girl stared at him blankly; ok that was the wrong thing to say. She looks offended; clearly I do know this girl from somewhere…

"Look, I'm sorry but right now I don't care who you are I just need to find Lily?"

"Oh Prongs you really are stupid!"

That one caught James out: she knew his nickname. I mean, of course everybody knows who he is, but nobody dares to use those names except us-OH GOD!

A cog had finally turned in James' head, the light bulb flicked on in his brain.

There was a Marauder in there.

His face turned white as a sheet. He knew he had to ask, but was terrified to find out.

"Who are you?"

She glared at him, "Oh now you've twigged it! It's me! Padfoot! I'M A GIRL PRONGS! WHAT DO I DO?! I DON'T KNOW HOW GIRLS OPERATE- WELL I KNOW HOW THEY OPERATE BUT I DON'T MEAN LIKE THIS!"

"…James? Sirius? – Oh, sorry. James who's this?" A ginger boy had just walked into the dorm; he had to be related to whoever Sirius was. But that's beside the point; he was looking for them so it had to be a Marauder- unless it was Lily…

James took a stab in the dark, "Lily?"

The boy looked at him in confusion, "No… Remus." He said this in a slow, patronising tone whilst pointing at his face. Sirius, of course, felt the need to make a comeback.

"No…tall, lanky ginger boy who looks spookily like me!" In the same tone of voice.

Remus' eyes widened and he, like Sirius, dashed towards the mirror. Thankfully, the scream was much lower and hopefully didn't harm anybody this time.

"I-I-I…. what have we done?"

The novelty was wearing off for James, now he had two hysterical lunatics to deal with.

Until Remus finally calmed down enough to think: "Hold on! Why does Prongs still look like Prongs?"

That shut Sirius up too.

James turned to the mirror, and saw that Remus was right. He looked almost exactly the same. However, he knew his appearance better than anyone – after all, he had studied it for hours at a time to bring it to perfection. That was obviously until he scored Lily though, of course he doesn't care what other girls think of him anymore… yeah…

"That's not me. Look at my eyes, I'm much smaller – I mean, you must have noticed that one! I've gone from 5'10 to like 5'8! And I dunno, this doesn't feel right…"

Unfortunately, another girl interrupted the speculation of James' body. Except this one had bushy, brown hair and was very slim… she was the Lily type. The Marauders had learnt to spot them anywhere. James had to give it one more shot, right?

"Lily?"

The girl sighed with relief… And then took a breath.

**Ta da! I can't apologise enough for how long it has taken me to update. My one word explanation is simply: School. Exams are catching up to me, and I'm sorry but they will take priority over this. The updates will be fairly random and just when possible until the 12th June. After that I will be back to regular writing, although I will be away for the first two weeks of July so maybe so regular...:D **

**Anyway, review please, tell me what you think. I know this chapter didn't have much content however, I'm trying to develop writing in detail again - it's been so long since I've written a proper story! Oopse, getting off track. I hope everyone reading this is ok and I shall see you next time :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Ok guys, I know it has been a REALLY long time since I posted but my only explanation is exams, and then after they were over I have been doing a summer program and it's just been quite hectic. Thank you so much to everybody that's following the story and I promise I'll get much quicker at this. I really hope this chapter is long enough because I know that I've kind of been skimming through all the details in the last three and so this is hopefully a bit of a longer read. Thanks again to everyone that has taken the time to read this and tell me what they think :) keep it coming!**

**Disclaimer: None of these characters of the world of Hogwarts belong to me, they are all J.K Rowling's I'm afraid.**

**Thanks guys :)**

**JAMES POV**

"Lily?"

The girl sighed with relief… And then took a breath.

"You look different, I'm sorry but could I talk to you alone?" She was glaring again, this had to be Lily.

Padfoot and Moony just stared at Lily like she was an idiot, but they played along surprisingly; Padfoot rolled his eyes and swept out of the room with a "Come on copperhead!" Moony trailed behind, still in shock at what had happened.

Then Lily made eye contact, and I knew that I was for it.

SLAP!

"WHAT ON EARTH HAVE YOU DONE?! WE ARE IN A TIME WE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT, AS PEOPLE WE HAVE NEVER MET, AND WE ARE NEVER GONNA FIND OUR WAY BACK! WELL?! WHAT ARE YOU GONNA SAY FOR YOURSELF?"

Well I didn't expect that.

"We will find a way back, okay? It wears off after three days. I guess these people that we look like will go back to their daily lives and nobody will be any the wiser?" The glare was returning so I started to hurry up my excuses – "OK! OK!

Look I never told you exactly why I made this potion. Yes it was because of what Alice said but it was also because you didn't reply. I could see that you agreed with her and I wanted to prove everyone wrong – including myself."

Lily – or whoever this girl was that Lily looked like – stared at me (at least it wasn't a glare) but she had wide eyes, and a tear trying to escape from them. She opened her mouth but didn't speak: oh god I've paralysed her!

"That is the stupidest and sweetest thing I've ever heard."

Thank god she's alive!

"But let me tell you something James Potter. This is the kind of behaviour that makes me believe Alice! You should have just trusted your own actions and stopped being so flipping paranoid! But no, instead you had to risk our lives to secure your mental ego. You were worried about making a mistake, congratulations! You've made it!"

And with that she stormed out of the room, and that tear never left.

She is so right. What was I thinking?! Of course I was gonna make a mistake, I will never be able to hold onto Lily… My stupid ego won't allow it.

"Prongs?"

I turned around to see the tall ginger again – another mistake all down to me. But at least Moony isn't gonna shout at me.

"Hey" was the only reply I could muster, along with a grimace to match my mood.

"You know, she'll forgive you by the end of the day."

That made me turn around.

"Yeah, I've fought with Lily before and believe me: if she starts crying, she'll forgive you."

Well at least that cheered me up a bit; the bed sank as Moony sat down. I didn't say anything, because I knew that I'd start blubbing like a seal if I did, so he simply continued.

"Look, I am not saying you did the right thing but you did something with the right intentions. I know you can get us back because we trust you, I mean it was you that came up with the animagus idea."

That put a smile on my face.

"Moony?" The threat of tears was starting to go away now.

"Yeah?"

"... Thanks"

"No problem, now what are you gonna do about me and Pads? No offence, but you got off lightly on this! As did Lily! I mean Sirius is a girl for god's sake!"

I turned my head towards him and his exasperation, and all I could do was laugh. Come on it was pretty funny! Padfoot was a ginger girl! I was never gonna let him forget it when we got home...

About five minutes passed with the two of us just laughing our heads off. Then the butt of our jokes stormed in.

"Alright, I know you're upset but shut up. I have a plan! What if we take polyjuice potion? Then at least I can make myself a guy again, and we can choose people that look vaguely like us?"

The idea was shot down in a heartbeat by Moony of course:

"Pads it takes a month to make Polyjuice, we're here for three days! I'm sure you can manage tits and a vagina for that long."

If only I'd had a camera for that moment, Padfoot was frozen in a state of shock.

"Firstly, rude! Secondly, I've never heard you sound so corrupted! What happened to our innocent cub that kept his nose in books? Have they been magazines all this time? You know, _those _magazines?" **wink wink**

"Sirius! Of course not! I just know the vocabulary that gets your attention and shuts you up."

Sirius was a bit stumped by that, but of course I'm much better competiton...

"Yeah well you would, you use it on him every night."

That made Remus falter, until I saw his rare, steely 'bring it on!' glare that only ever led to humiliation. Oh well, I'm already depressed. This can't get much worse.

"Well how would you know that Prongs? Have you been listening in?"

"No, you're just loud. God Remus I never knew you could be such a dark horse."

"Ah, I think you're framing the wrong guy mate. That's all Peter."

"OK ENOUGH! Guys, come on I know I'm the most fabulous and attractive guy ever but I can do better than Wormy! Besides, how could you mistake the girl in my bed for a guy? It was Evans."

That turned us into hyenas immediately. When all else fails, Pads can never ruin a sex joke. Well, almost never...

"James I'm sorry I-

.Timing.

"-What the? Are you all right? Remus? Black? James!"

"haha-hey Lils-ha-you-haha-ok?"

The look of disapproval was deafening. "Look. We just have to stick this out for three days right? I'm sorry for what I said, and I know you lot will get us back because unfortunately you may be the most childish boys that I have ever met but you are also my boyfriend and his best friends with some of the greatest minds I've ever seen. Also you're not wearing trousers Black so keep your legs together."

Sirius sprang into action as if he'd been hit with a full body bind. He obviously hadn't noticed that if you roll around on the floor laughing in a skirt then it will end up above your waist...

He had a lot to learn.

"Harry! You there? Look, everybody's at the Room of Requirement and if you want this to work then-

Not another one! You almost forget this place is a school, and there are other people around. How many tall ginger kids can you meet in one day?

"Did you find them Fred?" said a voice from down the corridor. There are two! Right this kid must be Fred. Come on Prongs! Action plan: how to get rid of two tall ginger kids without being suspicious... Nah, I've got nothing. Doesn't look like Pads is doing much better.

The staring is starting to get awkward now. Oh what the hell! I can wing it.

"Look, um Fred? I'm really sorry but Harry's um..." which one of us is Harry?! It's got to be Moony, who else is the tall ginger kid going to be looking for but his tall ginger brother?

"Harry's not feeling so good. He's going to have to skip whatever he was planning. Sorry."

This Fred kid looked at us like we were insane, "Well, why is Harry talking in the third person whilst looking at Ron and speaking to Fred as if he's never met him before! Cut the crap. Who are you and where is Harry?"


End file.
